Miami Beach 100 Years of Making Waves DVD

Noted author and adventurer, Charles J. Kropke traces the Illustrious 100 year history of Miami Beach (1815-2015). The film celebrates the Miami Beach Centennial, tracing the illustrious history of this storied island from the mid-1800s to present. It will highlight the lives of early pioneers and the visionary civic and business leaders who turned an uninhabited sandy island into today’s international visitor destination – and the many booms and busts along the way.

“Miami Beach has welcomed many waves of people through the decades,” Kropke says. In the 1910s and ’20s, tens of thousands of winter visitors from the northern states came each year, and hotels, restaurants and other businesses sprung up to cater to their needs. Then came a wave of retirees from the Northeast in the 1930s, followed by the military personnel who trained on the Beach during World War II. Later waves included Cuban refugees during the 1980s and the international influx of investors and visitors who turned South Beach into one of the world’s most glamorous destinations.

“Miami Beach has always been a place where people come to make new lives,” says Kropke. “Our centennial show is a story of triumph, as Miami Beach today has never been in better shape.”